Fingerprint: how sites track you and what to do about it

Websites identify users to analyze their behavior, fight frod, and personalize content and advertising. One of the main tools for this is the digital browser fingerprint or fingerprint.

We tell you what technical characteristics of devices form the browser fingerprint, why sites collect this data and how you can protect yourself from tracking.

Fingerprint, aka browser fingerprint, is a combination of device and browser technical parameters obtained when you visit a website.

The browser fingerprint includes the following parameters:

• screen resolution;
• device type;
• installed fonts;
• video card model and manufacturer
• number of media devices
• number of processor cores
• amount of RAM
• IP address, etc.

The data is combined into a unique identifier represented as a string of random characters.

The browser fingerprint consists of about 50 unique parameters. This is what allows you to identify users on repeat visits. The set of parameters differs from site to site. But most often the fingerprint consists of the parameters listed below.

This is an identifier string that the browser sends to the server. It contains information about the browser version and OS.

It's important to realize that starting with Chrome 100 (released in March 2022), the Browser User-Agent has been the same across all platforms, and the only things that change are the OS name (Windows, macOS, Android, Linux, etc.) and Chrome version.

Google decided to simplify User-Agent to reduce fingerprinting and gradually move to a new User-Agent Client Hints technology, where sites request system data through APIs rather than the User-Agent string.

Canvas and WebGL technologies are used to evaluate the graphical capabilities of the device:

Canvas is 2D drawing.

When using it, the browser draws an image on a hidden canvas and the result is compared with a reference image. The slightest differences create a unique print. If the Canvas print does not match other parameters, antifraud will suspect spoofing.

WebGL is a technology for 3D graphics.

It determines the video card model, drivers, and other features of the device. Inconsistencies between Canvas and WebGL footprints, such as different GPUs, signal tampering.

These include:

• User's preferred languages;
• time zone;
• screen resolution;
• list of installed fonts, etc.

This is a browser-based technology for streaming audio and video. If the plugin is not working properly, the site will detect the user's real IP address, even if a proxy is used. Therefore, the Vision anti-detect browser implements WebRTC spoofing to prevent any leaks via WebRTC.

These are stored by the browser when you visit a website. They store encrypted data about open sessions, language settings, history of visits to the current site, location data, etc. If the antique does not know how to handle cookies or uses common cookies on different profiles, sites can easily calculate multi-accounting.

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In addition to technical parameters, websites analyze user behavior on the page. This helps identify automated actions and strengthens the anti-fraud system.

Fingerprints are needed to solve several security, analytics and marketing problems at once.

Fingerprints are used to detect suspicious activity such as multi-accounting, spoofing, or blocking circumvention. Such behavioral patterns are tracked by fingerprint matching, even if the user changes IPs and logins.

Even if a user logs in without a login and clears a cookie, the site “recognizes” them by their fingerprint. This allows you to save your activity history, display ads repeatedly, or restore your profile if you lose your login.

Fingerprint is matched to the user's interests and behavior, and then used to select relevant ads. This creates a portrait of the user, even if they have not left any personal data.

You can't completely hide your fingerprints. If you want to protect yourself from being tracked and still look like a normal user, you need to spoof your fingerprints, not block them. This task is solved by anti-detect browsers that create separate profiles with unique fingerprints.

The best way to handle this is the Vision anti-detect browser. It does not generate fingerprints, but uses real fingerprints collected from real devices. This allows it to:

• bypass anti-fraud site systems;
• create the right number of clean accounts;
• work with traffic without leaks and bans.

Anti-detect browsers have two types of fingerprints:

1. Generated fingerprints - these are created automatically based on random or pre-defined parameters. They often look too unique or contain inconsistent parameters. For example, a browser gives one video card model, but Canvas rendering shows a completely different one. Such discrepancies trigger antifraud and lead to account banning.

2. Real fingerprints - generated from data collected from real physical devices. This is not random generation, but cloning of fingerprints from real devices that have been validated. In this way, the profile behavior is closer to a live user and the risk of blocking is reduced.

The Vision anti-detect browser uses only real fingerprints. This makes profiles natural to anti-fraud systems and allows you to safely run ad campaigns, without the risk of being blocked.

To check if a fingerprint is real, use special checkers:

• BrowserLeaks;
• PixelScan;
• Botchecker.net;
• fv.pro;
• Whoer.net;
• AmIUnique;
• Cover Your Tracks;
• BrowserScan.

They show what parameters sites read and how unique the collected fingerprint is.

Let's check the quality of fingerprint spoofing in the Vision anti-detect browser using the Pixelscan checker.

Result - everything is great, no problems with the print.

Websites have and will continue to collect user data through fingerprints, even if you use proxies and clean cookies. That's why it's important to spoof your digital fingerprint rather than hide it. The anti-detect browser Vision does this for you. With it, you can safely handle multi-accounts, run ads and scale projects without fear of blocking.